Wings Of Light: The Hybrids of Destiny
by Alona Aline
Summary: "We have to do something," Tsunami said. She hissed as her tail sent the eggshell skittering across the floor. "In eight years, the Talons of Peace will come looking for five hybrids. The prophecy says five, and we're going to make it come true… whatever it takes."
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

A dragon was trying to hide in the storm.

Lightning flickered across the dark clouds. Dune clutched his fragile cargo closer. If he could make it over the mountains, he'd be safe. He'd escaped the mud dragon's palace unseen. And the secret cave was so close…

But his theft has not been stealthy as he thought, and eyes as black as obsidian were already tracking him from below.

The enormous dragon on the mountain ledge had purple scales that were hidden in the night sky. Her black eyes narrowed, watching the gleam of pale wings far up in the clouds.

She flickered her tail, and behind her two more dragons rose to the sky and dove into the hart of the storm. A piercing shriek echoed off the mountains as their talons seized the desert-looking sand dragon.

"Bind his mouth," the waiting dragon ordered as his solders dropped Dune on the slick, wet ledge in front of her. His mouth was already smoky, ready to attack. "Quickly!"

One of the soldiers grabbed a chain from the pile of frozen ice. She threw it around the sand dragon's snout, clamming his jaws together with a sizzling smell of cooling scales. Dune let out a muffled scream.

"Too late." The night dragon's forked tongue slithered in and out of her mouth. "You won't be using your scorching-death breath on us, sand dragon."

"He was caring this, Queen Nightmare," said one of the soldiers, handing her a dragon egg.

Nightmare squinted at the egg through the downpour. "This is not a SandWing egg," she hissed. "You stole this from the MudWing palace."

The SandWing stared back at him. Hissing steam circled her snout where the cold chains met hot red scales.

"You thought you got away unnoticed, didn't you?" Nightmare said "My MudWing ally is not a fool. Queen Cattail knows everything that happens in her kingdom. Her lookouts reported a SandWing thief sneaking away, and I decided finding you might add some violence to my boring visit."

Nightmare held the large egg up to the light of the fire and turned it slowly. Brown and gold shimmered below the pale, smooth surface.

"Yes. This is a MudWing hybrid egg about to hatch," Nightmare mused. "Why would my sister send you to seal a hybrid dragonet? Moonlight hates any dragon that is prettier then her." She thought for a moment as rain drummed on the ledge around them. "Unless… the darkest night is tomorrow…."

Her dagger flicked up like a scorpion's barb, the poisonous blade inches from

Dune's eyes. "You're not in Moonlight's army, are you? You're one of those insipid underground peacemongers."

"The Talons of Peace?" said one of the soldiers. "You mean they're real?"

Nightmare snorted. "A few worms crying over a little blood. Unwrap his chains he won't be able to burn us until his scales heat up." The enormous night dragon leaned closer as her soldiers pulled the chains away. "Tell me, sand dragon, do you really believe in that pompous old RainWing prophecy?"

"Haven't enough dragons died for your war?" snarled Dune, wincing at the pain in his jaws. "All of Sutherland has suffered for the last twelve years. The prophecy says— "

"I don't care. No prophecy decides what happens to me," Nightmare interrupted. "I'm not letting a bunch of words or baby hybrids choose when I die or what I bow to. We can have peace when my sisters are dead and _I_ am queen of the NightWings." Her venomous dagger dipped closer to the pale dragon.

Rain pattered on Dune's scales. He glared up at her. "The hybrids are coming, whether you like it or not, and they'll choose who the next NightWing queen should be."

"Really?" Nightmare stepped back and turned the egg slowly between her talons. Her forked tongue slipped in and out of her smile. "So, SandWing. Is this egg a part of your pathetic prophecy?"

Dune went still.

Nightmare tapped lightly on the eggshell with one long talon. "Hello?" she called. "Is there a hybrid of destiny in there? Ready to come out and end this big bad war?"

"Leave it alone," Dune choked out.

"Tell me," Nightmare said, "what becomes of your precious prophecy… if one of the five hybrids is never hatched at all?"

"You wouldn't," he said. "No one would harm a dragon egg." His red eyes were fixed desperately on her talons.

"No 'wings of clay' to help save the world," Nightmare said. "What a sad, sad story." She began tossing the egg from one side to the other. "I guess that means you should be very, very careful with this _terribly_ important little— oops!"

With an exaggerated lunge, Nightmare pretended the egg was slipping through her talons… and then she let it fall over the side of the cliff into the rocky darkness below.

"No!" Dune shrieked. He threw off the two soldiers and flung himself toward the edge. Nightmare slammed her massive claws down on his neck.

"So much for destiny," she smirked. "So much for your tragic little movement."

"You're a monster," the SandWing gasped, writhing under her talons. His voice cracked with despair. "We'll never give up. The dragonets— the hybrids will come and stop this war."

Nightmare leaned down to hiss in his ear. "Even if they do— it'll be far too late for you." Her claws ripped through the pale dragon's wings, shredding them as Dune shrieked in agony. With a swift movement, she stabbed her poisonous tail through his skull and flung the long, pale body over the edge of the cliff.

The sand dragon's screams cut off long before the echoes of his corpse slamming into the rocks below.

The NightWing turned her black eyes to her soldiers "Perfect," she said "That should be the last we hear about that stupid prophecy." She held out her talons so the rain could wash away the bright dragon blood. "Let's go find something else to kill."

The three dragons spread their wings and lifted off into the dark clouds.

Sometime later, far below, a large dragon the color of mud crawled over the rocks to the broken body of the sky dragon. He nudged the cold tail aside and lifted a shard of eggshell from underneath it, then slipped back into the labyrinth of caves under the cliffs.

Stone walls brush against his wings. He breathed out a plume of flame to light her way along the dark passage, deep into the mountain.

"I stand with the Talons of Peace," hissed a vise in the shadows. "Crocodile is that you?"

"We await the wings of light," answered the brown dragon. A blue-green SeaWing emerged from a side cave, and he tossed the eggshell at her feet. "Not that it'll do us much good now," he snarled. "Dune is dead."

The SeaWing stared at the eggshell. "But— the ClayWing egg— "

"Broken," he said. "Gone. It's over, Tsunami."

"It can't be," she said. "Tomorrow is the darkest night. The three moons will be dark for the first time in a century. The hybrids of the prophecy _have_ to hatch tomorrow."

"Well one of them is already dead," Crocodile said. Rage flickered in his eyes. "I knew I should have stolen the ClayWing egg myself. I know the Mud Kingdom. They wouldn't have caught me the second time."

Tsunami grimaced, scratching one claw over the gills along her neck. "Vermilion is dead, too."

"Vermilion?" a spurt of flame came from Crocodile's nose. "How?"

"Caught in a battle between Moonlight's and Moon's forces on the way here. He still made it here with the bright hybrid egg, but he died of his wounds soon after."

"So it's just you, me, and Midnight to raise the little worms," Crocodile growled. "For a prophecy that can never be fulfilled. Let's break the cursed eggs now and be done with it. We'll be long gone before the Talons of Peace return for the hybrids."

"No!" Tsunami hissed. "Keeping the hybrids alive for the next eight years is more important than anything. If you don't want to be part of that— "

"All right, enough," Crocodile snapped. "I'm the strongest dragon in the Talons of Peace. You need me. It doesn't matter how I feel about nasty little hybrids." He eyed the eggshell on the floor, rubbing his scarred palms together. "Although I thought at least one of them would be a ClayWing."

"I'll find us a fifth hybrid." Tsunami pushed past him, scales scraping against rock.

"There's no way back into the Mud Kingdom, brainless," he said. "They'll be guarding the hatchery closely know."

"I know, I am getting an egg from somewhere else," She said grimly. "The IceWings don't even count their eggs— I could take a hybrid egg from the frozen forest without anyone noticing."

"Of all the horrible ideas," Crocodile said with a shudder. "IceWings are wretched creatures. Nothing like ClayWings."

"We have to do something," Tsunami said. She hissed as her tail sent the eggshell skittering across the floor. "In eight years, the Talons of Peace will come looking for five hybrids. The prophecy says five, and we're going to make it come true… whatever it takes."


	2. Chapter 1

_ Six Years Later…_

Chapter One

Burn didn't think she was the right dragon for a Big Heroic Destiny.

Oh, she wanted to be. She wanted to be the great CloudWing savior of the dragon world, glorious and brave. She wanted to do all the wonderful things expected of her. She wanted to look at the world, figure out what is broken, and fix it.

But she wasn't a natural-hatched hero. She had no legendary qualities at all. She liked sleeping more than studying, and she kept losing chickens in the caves during hunting practice because she was paying attention to her friends instead of watching feathers.

She was all right at fighting. But "all right" wasn't going to stop the war and save the dragon tribes. She needed to be extraordinary. She was the biggest dragonet, so she was supposed to be the scary, tough one. The minders wanted her to be _terrifyingly dangerous_.

Burn felt about as dangerous as Starfire.

"Fight!" her attacker howled, flinging her across the cavern. Burn crashed into the rock wall and scrambled up again, trying to spread her cloud-colored wings for balance. Brown talons raked her face and she ducked away. "Come on," the brown dragon snarled "Stop holding back. Find the killer inside you and let it out."

"I'm trying!" Burn said. "Maybe if we could stop and talk about it— "

He lunged for her again. "Feint to the left! Roll right! Use your fire!" Burn tried to duck under his wing to attack him from below, but of course she rolled the wrong way. One of his talons smashed her to the ground, she yelped with pain.

"WHICH LEFT WAS THAT, USELESS?" Crocodile bellowed in her ear. "Are all CloudWings this stupid? OR ARE YOU JUST DEAF?"

_Well, if you keep that up, I will be soon, _Burn thought. The MudWing lifted his claws and she wiggled free.

"I don't know about other CloudWings," she protested, licking her sore talons. "Obviously. But perhaps we could try fighting without all the shouting and see—" She stopped, hearing the familiar hiss that came before one of Crocodile's fire attacks.

She threw her wings over her head, tucked her long neck in, and rolled into the maze of stalagmite that studded one corner of the cave. Flames blasted the rocks around her, singeing the tip of her tail.

"Coward!" the older dragon bellowed. She smashed one of the rock columns into a shower of sharp black pebbles. Burn covered her eyes and almost immediately felt his stamp down hard on her tail.

"OW!" she yelled. "You said stomping tails was cheating!" She seized the closest stalagmite between her claws and scrambled up on the top of it. From her perch near the roof, she glared down at her guardian.

"I'm your teacher," Crocodile snarled. "Nothing _I _do is cheating. Get down here and fight like a MudWing."

_But I'm NOT a MudWing,_ Burn thought rebelliously. _I'm a CloudWing! I like setting things on fire and flapping around in circles biting at dragons necks._ Her teeth still ached from Crocodile's rock-hard scales.

"Can't I fight one of the others?" she asked. "I'm much better at that." The other dragonets were her own size (nearly), and they didn't cheat (well, most of the time). She actually _liked _fighting with them

"Oh, yes? Which opponent would you prefer, the stunted StarWing or the lazy FrostWing?" Crocodile said. "Because I'm sure you get to choose out on the battle field." His tail glowed like embers as he lashed it back and forth.

"Ice's not lazy," Burn said loyally. "She's just not built for fighting, that's all. Tsunami says there's not much to fight about in the frozen forest because the IceWings have all the food they want. She says that's why they've stayed out of the war so far, because none of the queens want IceWings in their armies anyway. She says—"

"STOP YAMMERING AND GET DOWN HERE!" Crocodile roared. He reared up on his back legs and flared her wings so he suddenly looked three times bigger.

With a yelp of alarm, Burn tried to leap to the next stalagmite, but her wings unfurled too slowly and he scraped into the side of it instead. Sparks flew as her claws scraped down the jagged rock. He let out another yowl of pain as Crocodile snaked her head between the columns, seized her tail in his mouth, and yanked him into the open.

His talons closed around her neck as he hissed in her ears. "Where's the violent little monster I saw when you hatched? _That's_ the dragon we need for the prophecy."

_"Gawp," _Burn squawked, clawing at his grip. She could feel the strange burn scars on his palms scraping against her scales.

This was how battle training with Crocodile always ended— with her unconscious and sore or limping for days afterward. _Fight back, _she thought._ Get mad! Do something!_ But although she was biggest of the dragonets, they were still a year from being full grown, and Crocodile towered over her.

She tried to summon some helpful violent rage, but all she could think of was, _It'll be over soon, and then I can go have dinner._

So, not the most heroic train of thought.

Suddenly Crocodile let out a roar and dropped her. Fire blasted over Burn's head as she hit the floor with a thud.

The brown dragon whirled around. Behind him, panting defiantly was the LightWing dragonet, Crystal. A brown-amber scale was caught between her sharp white teeth. She spat it out and glared at their teacher.

"Stop picking on Burn," Crystal growled. "Or I'll bite you again." Her black blue scaled shimmered like obsidian. The bright crystals scattered around on her were pulsing with energy like they always did when she was angry.

Crocodile sat back and flicked his tail around to examine the bite mark. He bared his teeth at Crystal. "Aren't you sweet. Protecting a dragon who tried to kill you while you were still an egg."

"But luckily you big dragons were there to _save_ our _lives_," Crystal said, "and we sure appreciate it, because now we get to hear about it _all the time._" She marched around to stand between Burn and Crocodile.

Burn winced. She hated hearing this story. She didn't understand it. She'd never wanted to hurt the other dragonets (well, most of the time). So why had she attacked their eggs during hatching? Did she really have a monster inside her somewhere?

The other minders, Tsunami and Midnight, said she'd been ferocious when she hatched. They had to throw her in the river to protect the other eggs from her. Crocodile wanted her to find that monster and use it when she fought.

But she was afraid if she ever did, she would love it but everyone else would hate it. Thinking about what she'd nearly done to her friends made her feel like all the mist had been sucked out of her.

She did _want _to be a violent angry monster, but she didn't want to hurt her friends even if Crocodile thought it would be an improvement.

But maybe that was the only way to make the prophecy come true. Maybe that monster was her destiny.

"All right," Crocodile said dismissively. "We're finished here any way. I'll mark another failure in your scroll, CloudWing." He snorted a small flame into the air and swept out of the cave.

Burn flopped down on the floor as soon as his brown tail had vanished from sight. It felt like every one of her scales was stinging from the burns. "She's going to be so mean to you during your training tomorrow," she said to Crystal.

"On, no," the LightWing dragonet gasped. "I've never seen Crocodile be mean before! That'll be so unexpected and out of character!"

"Ow," Burn groaned. "Don't make me laugh. I think my ribs are broken."

"Your ribs are not broken," Midnight said, poking Burn in the side with her snout. "Dragon bones are almost as hard as diamonds. You're fine. Get up and jump in the river."

"No!" Burn buried her head under her wings. "Too cold!"

"Jump in the river" was Crystal's solution for everything. Bored? Aching bones? Dry scales? Brain overstuffed with history of the war? "Jump in the river!" she'd shout whenever any other dragonets complained. She certainly did not care that she and Ice were the only one that could breathe underwater or that most other dragon tribes hated getting wet.

Burn didn't mind being wet, but she couldn't stand being cold, and the underground river that flowed through their cave was always freezing.

"Get in," Crystal ordered. She seized Burn's tail between her front talons and started dragging her toward the river. "You'll feel better."

"I will not!" Burn shouted, clawing at the smooth stone floor. "I'll feel colder! Stop it! Go away! Argh!" Her protests went up in a cloud of bubbles as Crystal dumped her in the icy water.

When she resurfaced, Crystal was floating next to her, bucking her head and splashing water over her scales like a beautiful overgrown fish. Burn felt like a gawky white blob next to her.

Burn splashed into the shallows and lay down on a submerged rock ledge, with her head resting on the bank of the river. She wouldn't admit it, but the burns and aches did feel better in the water. The current helped wash away the smoky rock dust caught between her dry scales.

Still too cold, though. Burns scratched at the rock below her. Why couldn't there be just a _little_ cloud dust down here?

"Crocodile will be sorry one day, when I'm queen of the SeaWings," Crystal said, swimming up and down the narrow channel.

"I thought only a queen's daughters or sisters could challenge her for the throne. Besides your a hybrid," Burn said. Crystal swam so _fast_. Burn wished she had webs between her talons, too, or gills, or a tail like hers, so powerful she could nearly empty the river with one big splash.

"Well, maybe the SeaWing queen is my mother and I'm a lost princess," she said. "Like in the story."

Everything the dragonets knew about the outside world came from scrolls picked up by the Talons of Peace. Their favorite was _The Missing Princess_, a legend about a runaway SeaWing dragonet whose royal family tore up the whole ocean looking for her. At the end she found her way home, and her parents welcomed her with open wings and feasting and joy.

Burn always skipped the adventures in the middle of the story. She just liked that last part— the happy mother and father. And the feasting. The feasting sounded pretty great, too.

"I wonder what my parents are like," Burn said.

"I wonder if any of our parents are still alive," Crystal said.

Burn didn't like to think about that. She knew dragons were dying in the war every day— Crocodile and Tsunami brought back news of bloody battles, scorched land, and burning piles of dragon bodies. But she had to believe her parents were still safe. "Do you think they miss us?"

"Definitely." Crystal flicked a spray of water at Burn with her tail. "I bet mine were frantic when Tsunami stole my egg. Just like in the story."

"And mine tore apart the clouds," Burn said. They'd all imagined scenes of their parents' desperate searches ever since they were young dragonets. Burn liked the idea that someone out there was looking for her… that someone missed her and wanted her back.  
Crystal flipped onto her back, gazing up at the stone roof with her translucent red eyes. "Well, the Talons of Peace knew what they were doing," she said bitterly. "No one would ever find us down here."

They listened to the river gurgle and the torches crackle for a moment.

"We won't be underground forever," Burn said, trying to make her feel better. "I mean, if the Talons of Peace want us to stop this war, they _have_ to let us out sometime." She scratched behind her ear thoughtfully. "Scorch says it's only two more years." She only had to hold on that long. "And then we can go home and eat as many cows as we want."

"Well, first we save the world," Crystal said. "And _than _we go home."

"Right," said Burn. _How_ they were going to save the world was a little fuzzy, but everyone seemed to think they'd figure it out when the time came.

Burn pulled herself out of the river, her waterlogged wings heavy and drooping. She spread them in front of one of the torches, arching her neck and trying to get warm. Feeble waves of heat wafted against her scales.

"Unless…" Crystal said.

Burn lowered her head to look at Crystal. "Unless what?" "Unless we leave sooner," Crystal said. She flipped over and pulled herself out of the water in one graceful motion.

"Leave?" Burn echoed, startled. "How? On our own?"

"Why not?" Crystal said. "If we can find a way out— why should we have to wait another two years? I'm ready to save the world now, aren't you?"

Burn wasn't sure she'd ever be ready to save the world. She figured the Talons of Peace would tell them what they had to do. Only the three guardian dragons— Crocodile, Tsunami, and Midnight— knew where the dragonets were hidden, but there was a whole network of Talons out there getting ready for the prophecy.

"We can't stop the war by ourselves," she said. "We wouldn't know where to start."

Crystal flapped her wings at Burn in exasperation, showering her with cold droplets. "We can too stop the war on our own," she said. "That's the whole _point_ of the prophecy."

"Maybe in two years," burn said. _Maybe then I'll have found my dangerous side. Maybe then I'll be ferocious fighter Crocodile wants me to be._

"Maybe sooner," Crystal said stubbornly. "Just think about it, ok?"

Burn shifted her feet. "All right. I'll think about it." At least that way she could stop arguing with Crystal.

Crystal cocked her head. "I hear dinner!" The faint sound of dismaying mooing echoed up the tunnel behind them. She poked Burn cheerfully. "Race you to the hall!" She whirled and pounded away without waiting for a response.

The torches in the battle room seemed dimmer, and cold water was seeping under Burn's scales. She folded her wings and swept her tail through the debris of the smashed rock column.

Crystal was crazy. The five dragonets weren't ready to stop the war. They wouldn't even know how to survive on their own. Maybe Crystal and Ice was brave and tough like a hero should be, but, Starfire and Scorch… Burn thought of all the things that might hurt them and wished she could give them her own scales and claws and teeth for extra protection.

Besides, there was no way to escape the cave. The Talons of Peace had made sure of that.

Still, part of her couldn't help wondering what it would be like to go home now instead of waiting another two years. Back to the clouds, to the sky, to the whole tribe of CloudWings who looked like her and thought like her… back to her parents, whoever they were…

What if they could do it?

What if the dragonets could escape, and survive, and save the world… their own way?


End file.
